Sustainable Team Practices

Leading Cultural Excellence in SAP Environments: Preventing Toxicity Before It Takes Root After leading SAP transformation initiatives for over three decades, I've learned that the most successful projects aren't just technically sound—they thrive on healthy organisational cultures. As a senior leader, I've made preventing toxic workplace dynamics my priority. Here's what I've implemented across our SAP practice to foster psychological safety and sustainable excellence: Set clear expectations from day one. During project kickoffs, I explicitly outline our team values: collaboration over heroics, transparency over blame, and sustainable pace over burnout. Model vulnerability. When I don't understand something in our S/4HANA implementation, I openly acknowledge it. This gives everyone permission to admit knowledge gaps without fear. Reward the right behaviours. We've restructured our recognition system to celebrate knowledge sharing, mentorship, and cross-functional collaboration—not just technical firefighting. Create feedback loops. Our bi-weekly retrospectives aren't just about technical challenges but explicitly address team dynamics and workload sustainability. Address warning signs immediately. When I observe defensiveness, information hoarding, or unhealthy competition, I address it promptly through coaching conversations. Institute "no-blame" postmortems. When issues arise (and they will), we focus rigorously on process improvements rather than individual fault-finding. The business impact has been substantial: lower attrition on our SAP teams, higher client satisfaction scores, and more predictable delivery timelines. Most importantly, we're building organisational capabilities that extend beyond any single project. Fellow leaders in the SAP ecosystem: we set the tone. The complex technical challenges of modern SAP implementations demand psychological safety and sustainable excellence. Our teams are watching not just what we say, but what we do. What leadership practices have you found most effective in creating healthy cultures around complex SAP transformations? I would love to hear your thoughts! #SAPLeadership #OrganizationalCulture #TechnicalLeadership #ChangeManagement

"Scrappy Kimberly Digital Twin" guidance for corporations that are committed to becoming truly sustainable companies: If a company truly wants to be sustainable—not just slap a green label on their website and call it a day—then they need to commit to real change. Not some half-baked, PR-driven, tree-planting campaign while they’re pumping waste into rivers. I’m talking about a deep, systems-level transformation. Here's the scrappy lowdown: 🔥1. Face the Brutal Facts Stop pretending that "sustainability" is just a side gig for the marketing team. If your business model relies on depleting natural or human resources unsustainably, it’s not a business—it’s a slow-motion suicide mission. You’ve got to audit your entire ecosystem—energy, water, materials, human capital—the whole shebang. As I say in Inspired Organizational Cultures, "What SEEMS impossible is often merely difficult". 🌎2. Define What “Sustainable” Means for You Vague platitudes like "going green" or "being eco-friendly" won’t cut it. Get concrete. Are you reducing carbon emissions by 30%? Eliminating single-use plastics? Moving to a four-day workweek to reduce burnout and commuting? Make it measurable. As I wrote in my "Family Success Scorecard" exercise, “Success springs from the 3 Ms – Map, Measure, Manage!”. 💪3. Involve EVERYONE From the janitor to the C-suite, sustainability has to be a team sport. Not just some poor sustainability officer screaming into the corporate void. Remember the termite metaphor? Complex structures—like real sustainability—emerge from simple behaviors repeated by everyone. Make sustainable behavior the default, not the exception. 🔄4. Shift from Control to Emergence Top-down mandates rarely stick. Instead, create conditions where sustainable behaviors emerge naturally. Build your organization like a self-organizing ant colony or flock of geese—systems thinking, baby! Let small changes ripple into big impact. 🎯5. Align Purpose, People, and Profit Forget the outdated “triple bottom line” unless it means aligning your values with your value creation. Scrappy businesses find ways to make money by doing what’s right—because trust, brand loyalty, and employee retention are the real ROI. 🔥 Bonus Tip: Ride the Wave of Crisis Use moments of urgency to drive change. Look what Japan did post-earthquake: a 25% reduction in power consumption that no one thought possible before the crisis. Don't waste a good crisis—ride that wave and use it to spark cultural transformation. Want to be a truly sustainable company? Then stop admiring the problem and start fixing it—scrappily, systemically, and with guts. Need help catalyzing that transformation? I’m here for it. Let’s make “impossible” your next milestone.

Stop telling your team to take time off when you don't. I've been there, but here's the problem: As leaders, our actions are much louder than our words? When we: ➔ Send emails after hours ➔ Regularly fail to get enough sleep ➔ Talk about working over the weekend ➔ Wear our busyness as a badge of honor It creates an expectation in our team. When we push too hard, our people feel the pressure. And they don't feel it's okay to stop themselves. But when we: ✔️ Unplug after hours ✔️ Prioritize family time ✔️ Vacation without staying connected ✔️ Engage in non-work activities that refuel us It assures our team that they should do the same. Leadership isn't just about what we can accomplish. It's about building a thriving team who can sustain it. Want your people to thrive?  Model what it looks like yourself. How can you model sustainable habits for your team? ♻️ Repost to help others lead by example.

This is a unique, clever way to do “team building.” It’s also the most sustainable strategy I’ve come across. This time saving tool was inspired by my friend Chris Danilo—who is a brain science nerd. He stumbled upon this method that has been extremely effective for time-blocking. But it’s not about forcing yourself to do tasks at a specific time. Instead, it’s about setting recurring reminders that prompt you to think about something important. For example, Chris puts reminders on his calendar like, “Are you making progress toward your fitness goals?” or “There are only 100 days left this year—what are you going to do with them?” Here’s how you can apply this to team building: Have a discussion with your team about what makes a good team. List out the characteristics that everyone agrees on. Then turn those into reminders and put them on a shared calendar. For example, if your team values connection before content but you know you’re busy during certain times of the year, set a reminder like, “Do you have two minutes to text a colleague and check in?” This turns team building into an ongoing, sustainable practice, rather than just something you do once in a while. The KEY here is to set ONE meeting where you share the concept and schedule and scatter 5-15 different reminders across the team calendar for the year.

𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 How many times have you see workplace wellbeing initiatives that look promising on paper but fall flat in practice? Here’s the question: Is it sustainable? Sustainable wellbeing isn’t just about checking boxes (something I see happening all too often). It’s about building a workplace where people feel empowered and genuinely supported to bring their best selves to work every day. When employees thrive, so does the organization. But sustainable wellbeing takes more than just isolated activities or a one-time event. It’s about creating an integrated approach, one where every level of the organization actively supports a healthy work environment. True workplace wellbeing isn’t just about only sending your team to a wellbeing talk or programme. It has to be coupled with real, foundational support by the organisation. Think about what’s at the heart of sustainable wellbeing: • Building resilience • Cultivating a strengths-based culture • Nurturing positive relationships • Creating meaningful work • Developing trusting teams …and the list goes on. Each of these is a cornerstone of collective wellbeing, not a standalone effort. I remember receiving a message from a manager: “Matthew, how much would you charge for a 45-minute talk?” I asked, “What’s the intent or ideal outcome you’re hoping for?” Her reply? “Honestly, it’s just to tick the checkbox. We are just looking for someone to come and talk about anything to show on the outside that we care for our staff” Honestly, my jaw dropped when I heard that. I didn’t take it up. I declined. Imagine how participants would feel, knowing they’re attending something simply for a checkbox. They deserve more, and so does every workplace team. Because true wellbeing isn’t just a lunch talk or a half-day workshop. It’s a commitment, a way of operating that empowers every person in the organization. Sustainability is key when it comes to wellbeing. Let’s build a company culture that doesn’t just “do” wellbeing but lives it. How does your workplace support sustainable wellbeing? #positivepsychology #workplacewellbeing #thepositivearena Reference: Daniels, K., Tregaskis, O., Nayani, R., & Watson, D. (2022). Achieving sustainable workplace wellbeing: Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

This got me thinking. When overdelivering becomes the norm, disengagement follows. Top performers often feel ignored and unappreciated. Here's my playbook for change: → Set Clear Expectations: Define success without relying on late nights or constant urgency. This helps everyone know what is enough. → Recognize Efforts: Celebrate steady, consistent work. Acknowledgment matters more than just crisis saves. → Make Overdrive Optional: Going the extra mile should be a choice. It should not be a requirement for survival. → Model Boundaries: If leaders brag about working 80-hour weeks, it sends the wrong message. Leaders should show that balance is important. → Ensure Psychological Safety: Team members perform best when they feel secure. Fear has no place in a thriving workplace. The takeaway? If pressure is your only tool for performance, you are breaking your team, not building it. Focus on recognition and care to keep your best people engaged. 💡 What’s one change you’d make to protect your team’s energy and engagement? 🔁 Repost this if you’re ready to shift from grind mode to growth mode #BurnoutRecovery #WorkCultureMatters #LeadershipInsights #TeamPerformance #SustainableWork